Jack Henry Abbott
|death place = Wende Correctional Facility, Alden, New York |job = Writer |pathology = Unclassified killer Bank Robber |mo = Stabbing |victims = 2 killed |time = 1965 - September 23, 1981 |charges = Manslaughter |sentence = Maximum of five years Three to 23 years increased by 19 years 15 years to life |capture = September 23, 1981 |status = Deceased }} Jack Henry Abbott was an American killer and bank robber. He was released from prison after gaining praise for his writing and lauded by a number of high-profile literary critics, but almost immediately he committed a murder and was locked up for the rest of his life. Background Abbott was born at Camp Skeel in Oscoda, Michigan, to an Irish-American soldier and a Chinese prostitute. He said he had been in and out of foster care from the moment of his birth until the age of nine, at which point he started "serving long stints in juvenile detention quarters". As a child, Abbott was in trouble with teachers and later with the law, and by the age of 16 was sent to a long-term reform institution, the Utah State Industrial School. According to Abbott, his mistreatment by the school guards left him scarred for life. He also became a chronic bedwetter. Prison and Release In 1966, aged twenty-one, Jack Abbott was serving a sentence for forgery in a Utah prison when he stabbed a fellow inmate to death. He was given a sentence of three to twenty years for this offense, and in 1971 his sentence was increased by a further nineteen years after he escaped and committed a bank robbery in Colorado. Behind bars, he was troublesome and refused to obey guard's orders and spent a lot of time in solitary confinement. In 1977 he read that author Norman Mailer was writing about convicted killer Gary Gilmore. Abbott wrote to Mailer and offered to write about his time behind bars and the conditions he was in. Mailer agreed and helped to publish In the Belly of the Beast, Abbott's book on life in the prison system consisting of his letters to Mailer. Mailer supported Abbott's attempts to gain parole, which were successful in June 1980 when Abbott was released. He went to New York City and was the toast of the literary scene for a short while. Norman Mailer was subjected to some criticism for his role in getting Jack Abbott released and was accused of being so blinded by Abbott's evident talent for writing that he did not take into account Abbott's propensity for violence. In a 1992 interview in The Buffalo News, Mailer said that his involvement with Abbott was "another episode in my life in which I can find nothing to cheer about or nothing to take pride in." Second Murder, Trial, and Return to Prison At around 5 a.m. on July 18, 1981, six weeks after being paroled from prison, Abbott and two women, Veronique de St. Andre and Susan Roxas, went to a small cafe called the Binibon, located at 79 Second Avenue in Manhattan. Richard Adan, a 22-year-old actor, and playwright was there working as a waiter in his father-in-law's restaurant. Abbott got up from his table and asked Adan to direct him to the toilet. Adan explained that the toilet could be reached only through the kitchen, and because the restaurant did not have accident insurance for customers, only employees could use the bathroom. Abbott argued with him. They took their dispute outside, where Abbott stabbed Adan to death. The very next day, unaware of Abbott's crime, the New York Times ran a positive review of In the Belly of the Beast. After some time on the run, Abbott was recognized by a business owner and held until the police arrived to arrest him in Morgan City, Louisiana, while he was working in an oilfield. He was charged with Adan's murder and represented by high-profile defense attorney Ivan Fisher. At his trial in January 1982, Abbott defended himself and gained the support of such celebrities as writer Jerzy Kosinski and actress Susan Sarandon. He was convicted of manslaughter but acquitted on murder, and sentenced to 15 years to life. Apart from the advance fee of $12,500, Abbott did not receive any revenue from In the Belly of the Beast, because Adan's widow successfully sued him for $7.5 million in damages, which meant she would receive all the money from the book's sales. Mailer was criticized for his role in getting Abbott released and was accused of being so blinded by Abbott's evident writing talent that he did not take into account the man's violent nature. Kosinski admitted that their advocacy of Abbott was, in essence, "a fraud". There was a tragic irony to the murder, not lost on the community of aspiring writers and actors in New York. While Abbott was an accomplished writer, Adan was both an actor and a playwright, whose talent was just beginning to be recognized: shortly before his murder, his first play had been accepted for production by the La Mama theatre company. Final years and Suicide In 1987 Abbott published another book titled My Return, which was not a success. It contained a great deal of self-pity, but no remorse for his crimes. In fact, Abbott blamed his crimes on the prison system and the government and said he wanted an apology from society for the way he had been treated. He appeared before the parole board in 2001, but his application was turned down because of his failure to express remorse and his lengthy criminal record and disciplinary problems in prison. On February 10, 2002, Jack Abbott hanged himself in his prison cell using a makeshift noose constructed from his bedsheets and shoelaces. He left a suicide note, whose contents have not been made public. Modus Operandi When he killed both his fellow inmate and Adan, Abbott stabbed them to death with a knife. Profile Abbott manifested a strong antisocial attitude from an early age, which much probably either originated or was increased by the feeling of having being "rejected" by his parents. Like many other antisocial personality disorder affected individuals, he was prone to anger outbursts and most likely killed as a form of "outlet". Known Victims *Unspecified date in 1966: Utah State Prison, Draper, Utah: Unnamed fellow inmate *July 18, 1981: The Binibon, 79 Second Avenue, Manhattan, New York City, New York: Richard Adan On Criminal Minds *Season Six **"25 to Life" - While Abbott has yet to be directly mentioned or referenced on the show, he appears to have been an inspiration for Donald Sanderson - Both were paroled out of prison and stabbed another man to death afterward. Notes *Abbott's background, prison history and further details are very similar to those of Gary Gilmore, a Utah murderer who killed two people just after being released from prison. He subsequently requested that he was given the death penalty and was finally executed in 1977. Sources * Wikipedia's article on Abbott * Murderpedia's article on Abbott * Mailer and the Murderer - The New York Times Category:Real World Criminals Category:Real Bank Robbers Category:Real Life Killers Category:Real People Category:Incarcerated Real World Criminals Category:Deceased Real World Criminals Category:Real Suicides Category:Unreferenced Criminals